- Leading GDS in Asia
Pacific will enable accelerated global growth for
Sabre
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, July 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sabre
Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR) today announced that it has completed
the acquisition of Abacus International, the leading global
distribution system (GDS) in the Asia-Pacific region.
"The addition of Abacus further strengthens Sabre's leading
position in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region," said Sabre President
& CEO Tom Klein. "Our
ability to combine Sabre's strong global technology platform
capabilities with Abacus' deep local market expertise will provide
Asia-Pacific airline, hospitality
and travel agency customers with unprecedented innovation and
service options. It also makes us an ideal technology partner for
global customers seeking to grow and expand in Asia-Pacific."
Abacus serves more than 100,000 travel agents across the
Asia-Pacific region's 59 markets
and has both global and uniquely local relationships with airlines
and hotels, including the leading portfolio of low-cost airline
content and Chinese airline content.
Sabre, which previously owned 35% of Abacus, acquired the
remaining portion for net cash consideration of $411 million.
Separately, the acquisition includes new long-term distribution
agreements between Sabre and the 11 Asian airlines that previously
shared ownership of Abacus with Sabre.
The acquisition, including associated working capital
adjustments and cash acquired, was financed through cash on hand,
augmented by revolver borrowings of $70
million.
Sabre has also signed an agreement to acquire Abacus national
marketing company, Abacus Distribution Systems (Hong Kong).
Sabre management will update financial guidance as it relates to
the Abacus acquisition during the company's next earnings
conference call, which is scheduled for Tuesday, August 4, 2015.
About the Company
Sabre Corporation is a leading technology provider to the global
travel and tourism industry. Sabre's software, data, mobile and
distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and
thousands of hotels to manage vital operations, such as passenger
and guest reservations, revenue management, and flight, network and
crew management. Sabre also operates the world's leading travel
marketplace, processing more than $110
billion of annual travel spend. Headquartered in
Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre
operates in approximately 60 countries around the world.
Website Information
We routinely post important
information for investors on our website, www.sabre.com, in the
Investor Relations section. We intend to use this website as a
means of disclosing material, non-public information and for
complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
Accordingly, investors should monitor the Investor Relations
section of our website, in addition to following our press
releases, SEC filings, public conference calls, presentations and
webcasts. The information contained on, or that may be accessed
through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, and is
not a part of, this document.
Forward-looking statements
Certain statements in this
release are forward-looking statements about trends, future events,
uncertainties and our plans and expectations of what may happen in
the future. Any statements that are not historical or current facts
are forward-looking statements. In many cases, you can identify
forward-looking statements by terms such as "will," "expect,"
"would," "estimates," "may," "potential" or the negative of these
terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause Sabre's actual results, performance or achievements
to be materially different from any future results, performances or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among
others, the closing and effects of the acquisition described in
this release, dependency on transaction volumes in the global
travel industry, particularly air travel transaction volumes,
adverse global and regional economic and political conditions,
dependence on maintaining and renewing contracts with customers and
other counterparties, exposure to pricing pressure in the Travel
Network business, dependence on relationships with travel buyers,
changes affecting travel supplier customers, travel suppliers'
usage of alternative distribution models, and competition in the
travel distribution market and solutions markets. More information
about potential risks and uncertainties that could affect our
business and results of operations is included in Part I, Item 1A,
"Risk Factors" in Sabre's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2014 filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. Although we believe that
the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, we cannot guarantee future events, results, actions,
levels of activity, performance or achievements. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. Unless required by law, Sabre undertakes no obligation
to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to
reflect circumstances or events after the date they are made.
Media Contact:
Pam
Wong
+447 968 902 626
pam.wong@sabre.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Barry Sievert
+1682-605-0214
barry.sievert@sabre.com
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